Exuberance!

So the glories of the Aquarium will never loose their charm! Can you believe the exuberance... Wish I could bottle some it up and save it for a grumpy day!

On a another note...

Here is a little tid bit our morning conversation for your enjoyment.
L: Did the Light come up?
Me: Yes, I think so.
L: Is it on it's way?
Me: Yep
L: I will go see.

L: It IS on it's way! It is getting lighter and lighter and LIGHTER!
MOM... ITS LIGHTER!!!!





Perhaps the sun should always be called The Light...

The Hive Works

So the hive (aka, my studio) has been buzz buzz buzzing with new works...
These works are solely for my little ol' family... yes, yes... I have been unabashedly pursuing exactly what I have been wanting to... my own work... for no one else but me! So selfish, righto??

Anyways, here are the fruits of the labor...
Lavender in silhouette... then her lovely little hand and feet impressions captured forever in sweet sweet beeswax! I just love this incredibly durable medium... perfect for me, especially since Lavender keeps carrying them around the house saying "Look at THIS, Mom!!!"

Now I just gotta get the Autumn works going!

As you may have noticed... I am in preservation mode. I keep finding myself wanting to savor and capture all the wonderful tiny little details of this time in our little family's world. It seems that its fleetingness (is that a word?) has made itself known to me once again. And somehow I just know that these are the golden years, ya know...

Hope you all are savoring yours in your own special way...

Howeva, if you want your own child's tinyness caught on canvas, like these... give me a shout and I might just make one for you!

Now off to enjoy the incredible wonders that live in the waters of the Aquarium!!!

Hope you cats have a good day... looks like it is going to be a pretty one!

This one goes out to our Anna

so this one goes out to our dear Anna, who is in a beautiful far off land.

Miss Anna gave my sweet girls these really wonderful paint sets before her departure. And the funny thing is that they have started an artistic revolution up in here!

I'm not sure quite what the magical ingredient was in these paints, but whatever they had in them, it sure does work it's magic!

Since we have used them we have begun painting on any and everything... matboard, muffin cup paper, toilet paper rolls, ribbon spools... you name it, we have probably painted on it! And not with just acrylics, but with watercolor, pastels, crayons, and lovely Anna paints (as they are called here)!

Anyways, I'm not sure why out of all the creative projects we have embarked on, why these paints have become the catalyst to creating a new passion, but whatever the spark, I can't express how happy it makes my heart. I know, I know, we should be happy to watch our kids flourish in which ever field they are drawn, but I confess, if it is art, my little ol' heart would melt!

oh yeah, here is Lavender painting... and yes, we consider the hands to be a supa cool canvas!!!

and for Anna, sorry we haven't posted pics of the finished "Anna paint" project... more to come lata!

and one more thing, our little ol' computa is on the frittzers, so if ya don't hear peep from this end for a bit, that may be why. Hopefully we'll get is fixed up supa soon!! peace out, homies!

Have I mentioned....

Have I mentioned my Autumn Marie??? well, I can't remember the last post about this cutie and I just have to say that she is magic!

This momma is falling more and more in love with this little babe every day... even if she is crying all the time with the onset of some new toothies!

This little crawlin' machine has taken up a new hobby I haven't told ya about... She chases! Yep, she will chase you room to room. And she's fast too! Boy, those little hands and feet can really get a move on!
I guess the sweetest thing about this new hobby is that I know it comes straight from her little heart that just can't get enough of you.

This tiny girl just loves people so much she can't get enuff... which you would know if you decide to put her down to do the dishes or somethin' - her favorite place to be is riding around in someone's cozy arms!

So sweet!

Anyways, I'm sure you have read enough of the blatherings of a smitten momma, so here's signing off...

Big Skies

it's funny... we moved the computa out of the den and made an office out of one of our bedrooms and I gotsta tell ya that it has really changed my techy addiction. I am embarassed to admit that when I have to walk past our computer to do anything I am magnetically pulled to it... it is almost uncontrollable. So it is a new bittersweet development at the K house... nice to be living more and recording it less, but unfortunate to not be up to date on so much.

Nevertheless... life goes on.

On another note...
I keep finding my camera filled to the brim with dozens of "big sky pictures" and tiny detail pictures. I keep finding myself taking pictures of the Autumn sky... something so mesmerizing about that much blue!

Anyways... here are some big skies for you! oh, and tiny details too!

the birthday girl

this is my sweet Grandma, who celebrated yet another birthday today surrounded by her children, grandchildren and many great grand children.

my heart has many things that it longs to say about this woman who has lived so long and taught me so much. But alas, I find that there is just too much.

all i will say is that today is was lovely to see her happy and enjoying the moment... each tiny littlest moment for what it was.

Dipping Raw Silk in Beeswax

So for all you cats I haven't seen in a bit here is a little snippet of what I am usually up to... almost all my artwork these days can be identified by the term "encaustic collage"... it just means that every component of the piece is adhered to the canvas with beeswax.

I take big blocks of beeswax and melt it down and basically create a collage utilizing beeswax as the adherent substance through a heating technique.

My little ol' Facebook status about dipping Japapnese raw silk in beeswax was the result of my giddy enthusiasm to see how lovely the fabric took to the wax... Just take a look... you can see all that gorgeous gorgeous texture and even all my hard hours of underpainting and layering shining through!! Yep, I am pretty happy about how this piece is coming along, even though we are nowhere near finished... (funny how it always seems like I am in that stage?!!!)

Anyways, I posted some before the wax pictures of the lovely raw silk and you can see the after the wax pics of the canvas and let me know what ya think!! (sorry for the lousy photo quality guys... I am so wicked tired right now... )
smooches!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Check out our day at Brush Creek Farms, kids! Yep, we took the fam and Jess and the girls out pumpkin pickin'!

For those of you who know me well, you are well aware that this is just the kind of outing I love love love. The simple goodness of it... the lovely lack of materialism and over entertainment... and of course, the amazing wonders of nature.

All these things make for one stellar fam outing, if I do say so myself!

If you all are ready for any seasonal outings I highly recommend the Pumpkin Pickin'! We went to Brush Creek Farms (http://www.brushcreekfarmstn.com/), which is just past Dayton and they do a great job at making the farm lovely and family friendly. You can check out a bazillion different pumpkin varieties and even take a horse drawn wagon ride out the fields to pick your own! And don't forget to pack a lunch... the picnic tables offer a pretty sweet view that you will not wanna miss...
So supa dupa fun!!!
Hope you guys are able to get out there in this perfect weather!
Smooches!!!

it's been a bit

hey kids, sorry for the bit o silence... all has been well, but eva so busy it seems. (and I tend to have a bit of an all or nothing relationship with ye ol' computa!)
Anyways, we have been busy busy bees over here...
we moved around most of the furniture in our sweet little house and have been spending all other waking moments in the beautiful fleeting Fall weather... I just can't get enuff, I say!!!

Here are a few snippets of our last few days...
I just gotta say that the last couple of weeks have been so super simple and perfect. The girls have been ever so much fun... especially Autumn who can get around and do so much more these days...

I guess it's just one of those small times where you realize that everything is just how it should be in this momentary bubble right here, right now.

we'll see how long it is till it pops!!!

until then, I am happy to just float!

FREE TREE EVERYBODY!

Calling all gardners....
Yo! I gotta a super pretty tree that is FREE FREE FREE if you would like it.

These beautiful shots are of the pride of my garden... The Angel Trumpet Tree.
Wow.. whatta looker, eh?

Anyways... It is with some sadness I must say adieu to my little tree. See, we live in a neighborhood rampant with little tiny children, all sorts of dogs and pets, etc. That is what we love about our little ol' neighborhood, but it is actually a drawback when you plant a poisionous plant in your front yard that just beckons to those tiny, curious fingers.

If you would be interested in planting this tree in your yard you are welcome to it. We just need to move it out asap... so let me know if you want it, kiddos!!

a few things to know abut angel trumpets:
Sun loving plant
multiple bloomer
fragrant blooms
fast grower
eats and drinks a lot
is a tropical plant (but most survive winter around here - mulch mulch mulch)
and unfortunately posionous (leaves, blooms, the whole bit of it!)

Da Zoo

so we went to da zoo yesterday and here is a wittle glimpse of the fun.

We caught up with Laughfer's good bud, Mattdew there and they had the best time running around, holding hands, dancing, chasing one another and the like... just look at all the fun!

Now Autumn is finally getting big enough to see some of the animals and check things out a bit too. She was wavin' wavin' wavin' to the spider monkeys and staring right back at the macaus ( I have absolutely no clue how to spell the name of that dern bird)
anyways... the weather has just been too nice to stay inside as of late... we have been ramblin' from one park to the next and checkin' out the zoo every dollar wed. just so we can be out. Just can't get enuff of this glorious early fallness! So lovely.

Hey... on a funny note... here is Autumn looking totally terrified on the carousel. I guess I'm not supposed to say things like that, but hey... who are we kiddin' - sometimes our kids are funny... and you just gotta laugh it off, right?

and one last thing.. this last pic of Mattdew made the 31photos bloggie. To check out our little project, go here:
http://www.31photos.blogspot.com/
and try not to get too scared of the spooky van cannon pic currently at the top o the page!

hope your week is as lovely as ours has been!